Living with violence

Trauma center disparity

Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune

Ella Smith holds a photo of her grandson Terrell Dobbs, who at age 22 was shot in the leg and died en route from the Woodlawn neighborhood to a trauma center 10 miles away on the North Side in 2008. She believes he might have been saved were there a trauma center closer to home, and she wishes he could have been treated at the University of Chicago medical center, about a mile from where he was shot. "Maybe they could have taken him there and stabilized him," Smith said. Read the story

Ella Smith holds a photo of her grandson Terrell Dobbs, who at age 22 was shot in the leg and died en route from the Woodlawn neighborhood to a trauma center 10 miles away on the North Side in 2008. She believes he might have been saved were there a trauma center closer to home, and she wishes he could have been treated at the University of Chicago medical center, about a mile from where he was shot. "Maybe they could have taken him there and stabilized him," Smith said. Read the story (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)

Katie Kirkwood lost her son Maurice, 26, in 1998 when he was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun while sitting in his car in their West Side neighborhood. A year later her son Quinton, 17, was fatally shot during a robbery attempt. She said the issue of gun violence is overwhelming. "I hear about it all day -- at my job, at church, when I'm shopping. It's gotten to the point where someone will say, 'Oh, a baby got shot' ... and it's just like they're saying, 'It's raining outside.' It just seems normal to people." Read the story

Katie Kirkwood lost her son Maurice, 26, in 1998 when he was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun while sitting in his car in their West Side neighborhood. A year later her son Quinton, 17, was fatally shot during a robbery attempt. She said the issue of gun violence is overwhelming. "I hear about it all day -- at my job, at church, when I'm shopping. It's gotten to the point where someone will say, 'Oh, a baby got shot' ... and it's just like they're saying, 'It's raining outside.' It just seems normal to people." Read the story (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)